Welcome to our blog! We purchased our 2003 Lagoon 380 hull #199, Mirador, in February of 2010 culminating a 30+ year dream, a decade of actively looking at boat models and styles and a five year hunt for the right boat to go on a long term open-ended cruise. After placing a deposit on a new South African catamaran, we watched the factory go belly up. We fortunately got our deposit back (thank you Stephen) and began our search again. Our first stop was the Manta 42. We looked at the Manta 42 at the Annapolis show. We visited the factory in Florida, met Dan Even and came close to making a deposit. We decided to take a cruise on one prior to purchase, and hired Dan's captain to take us on a trip to the Dry Tortugas and Key West. We liked a lot about the Manta, especially the stern seat, but Sarah didn't like the saloon. To her it seemed 'closed in'. And, I confess, she was right. But then, the admiral always is! The galley was fantastic, however. We kept looking. We had known about the Lagoon 380 for many years, but we hadn't seriously considered it because of what we felt to be an inadequate galley. We visited Pam and Chris on Wildcat (a Lagoon 380) several years before, and although we liked the layout, we hated the galley. Eventually, we figured we could live with the galley. If there are over 400 out there cruising, Lagoon must have done something right, and obviously people have worked around the small galley. All boats are a compromise, even the multimillion dollar platinum coated crewed ones.
So, our criteria got narrowed to a Lagoon 380, prior to the S2 design change, but still late model. We preferred the older design for several reasons (but that's another story). We wanted a 380 that was pretty much ready to go on a blue water cruise, although we knew we'd still have a lot of work to do. We found Alizé in Norfolk through another 380 owner and finally negotiated a contract on her. We closed in February, as noted before, in Ft. Lauderdale. She was rechristened Mirador. We decided on the name Mirador years before we found the actual boat. We had been watching a television program about the excavation of Guatemalan sites of the indígenes. They referred to an elevated site that overlooked the ancient ruin as a 'mirador'. Sarah and I had been studying Spanish in anticipation of visiting the western Caribbean. We thought that a word in Spanish that means 'an overlook' or 'observation point' would be appropriate for our boat. Years ago, we learned that there are two kinds of cruisers: traveling sailors and sailing travelers. We definitely fall into the latter category. In our retirement we want to travel essentially full time, as vagabonds. The only way we can afford that is by sailboat.
The weather outside here in the tidewater of Virginia is frightful as we try to get the boat and house ready. The house is going on the market soon, as we dyed-in-the wool pack rats try to strip ourselves of 30 some years of unbelievable amounts of junk. The task of trying to move the contents of several thousand square feet of house into a small boat seems Sisyphean at best. There are 3 piles: boat, Hollywood, and throw/give away/garage sale. How to keep the first pile the smallest?! We will maintain a small condo in Hollywood, Florida as a getaway from the boat. Most people we have met who do this full time have told us that it is much better to have a place somewhere that you can go to to get away from the boat on occasion. We picked Hollywood, FL for several reasons. We like southeast Florida. Hollywood is very close to two busy international airports (like less than $20 cab ride to FLL) and therefore convenient to the rest of the world by airplane. Hollywood is a cute, slow paced town (for being next door to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) and has tons of nice restaurants and bars within walking distance.
Our posts to this log will probably be somewhat intermittent until we are in full cruising mode. Hopefully, we'll find a way to keep family, old friends and new friends updated.
